Types of Chemotherapy

Cancer has become a prevalent disease in the entire world. To combat these deadly illnesses, the common treatment method being implemented against them is chemotherapy. Also known as antineoplastic medications, they aim to destroy cancer cells inside the body. Nevertheless all types of chemotherapy have a drawback. Although they can target the cancerous cells and destroy them, they are most likely to involve the healthy cells as well. With this kind of downside, it is blatant that chemotherapy can produce numerous side effects.

Here are some of the common chemotherapeutic used today:

1.) Alkylating Agents

These medications are also known as cell cycle non-specific chemotherapy drugs that can trigger damage to the cell DNA, hence, preventing proliferation. Now here comes the downside: due to their mechanism of action, they can cause prolonged damage to the bone marrow. Furthermore, rare cases have shown that alkylating agents can develop to acute leukemia. That is why doctors only prescribe low doses of these drugs. Here are some alkylating agents:

a.) Nitrogen mustards like Chlorambucil, Ifosfamide and Cyclophosphamide

b.) Alkyl sulfonates such as Busulfan

c.) Metal salts like Cisplatin and Oxaliplatin

d.) Nitrosources such as Carmustine, Lomustine and Streptozocin

e.) Triazines and Hydrazines such as Procarbazine, Temozolomide, Dacarbazine and Altretamine

f.) Ethylenimines such as Altretamine and Thiotepa

2.) Plant Alkaloids

These are chemotherapeutic drugs that are collected from plants. They are known as cell cycle specific medications that destroy the cells during the various phases of division. These medications thwart the function of the microtubule which is essential for cell division to take place. There are some various types of plant alkaloids.

a.) Vinca alkaloids such as Vincristine, Vinorelbine and Vinblastine

b.) Podophyllotoxins such as Tenisopide and Etoposide

c.) Camptothecan analogs like Irinotecan

d.) Taxanes such as Docetaxel and Paclitaxel

3.) Antitumor Antibiotics

These chemotherapeutic drugs are derived from a soil fungus known as Streptomyces. They are also cell cycle specifics and function during the cell cycle’s multiple phases. The different types of these drugs include:

1.) Chromomycins such as Plicamycin and Dactinomycin

2.) Anthracyclines like Doxorubicin, Mitoxantrone, Daunorubicin, Idarubicin and Epirubicin

3.) Miscellaneous medications which include Bleomycin and Mitomycin

4.) Topoisomerase Inhibitors

Our body has its own topoisomerase enzymes that function to assist the separation of DNA strands for more proliferation. These drugs restrict these enzymes from functioning. Here are some types of topoisomerase inhibitors:

a.) Topoisomerase I inhibitors such as Topotecan and Irinotecan

b.) Topoisomerase II inhibitors such as Teniposide, Etoposide phosphate and Amsacrine

These different types of chemotherapy drugs are administered in various kinds of cancers. That is why it is important for oncologists (doctors who specialize in cancer) to know the type of chemotherapeutic agent that should be given to the patient. Here are some types of cancer that can be treated with these medications:

1.) Alkylating agents

a.) Lung cancer

b.) Breast cancer

c.) Ovarian cancer

d.) Multiple myeloma

e.) Hodgkin’s disease

f.) lymphoma

g.) sarcoma

h.) acute and chronic leukemia

2.) Plant alkaloids

a.) Breast cancer

b.) Lung cancer

c.) Leukemia

d.) Lymphoma

e.) Myeloma

3.) Antitumor antibiotics

a.) Leukemia

b.) Lymphoma

c.) Prostate cancer

d.) Breast cancer

4.) Topoisomerase inhibitors

a.) Lung cancer

b.) Ovarian cancer

c.) Cancers in the gastrointestinal tract

Typically, these types of chemotherapy medications are given to the patient orally and can be in the form of tablets, capsules or liquids. However, advanced stages of cancers are treated with chemotherapeutic agents via intravenous route.